The vile antisemitism of Within Our Lifetime‘s Nerdeen Kiswani and MPower Change‘s Linda Sarsour isn’t accidental or peripheral — it’s the smoke that hides the fire. Their venom serves political purposes: to push Zohran Mamdani further and to make him look like a moderate.
Kiswani, the founder of Within Our Lifetime, just declared that there is “no scourge of antisemitism” in New York, that antisemitism is merely a “political tool.” She dismisses Jewish fear as propaganda, mocking the very notion that attacks on Jews are real or meaningful. It’s malice dressed up as activism.
Sarsour, her ideological twin, has spent years deflecting and justifying Jew-hatred while demanding that “Zionists” be excluded from feminist and progressive spaces. Both women were already disgusting before Mamdani’s rise; their brand of hatred was a known quantity. But now, with a self-proclaimed “anti-Zionist” mayor-elect, their vitriol has a new function.
By shouting louder, by pushing uglier rhetoric, by saying they will hold Mamdani “accountable,” Kiswani and Sarsour pull the Overton window so far into open antisemitism that Mamdani’s own positions — once fringe — could appear reasonable. When he calls for “justice for Palestine” but refuses to condemn chants for the destruction of Israel, he suddenly sounds measured. When he pays lip service to opposing antisemitism while platforming its deniers, he looks balanced.
That’s the trick. The extremists normalize the radical.
Expect them to ratchet it up — louder, uglier, more unapologetic. Every grotesque statement they make gives Mamdani cover to pretend he’s in the middle, that he’s the “responsible” voice between hatred and hysteria. In reality, it’s a choreography: they spew; he sanitizes.
This is how antisemitism gains respectability — not only through mobs on the street which are clearly terrifying sights – but through mayors in city hall who appear “moderate” only because the activists behind them are obscene.
New York should not fall for the illusion. The vile bigotry of Sarsour and Kiswani doesn’t make Mamdani reasonable — it exposes how far the city’s moral compass has tilted. When hatred becomes the baseline, even those who echo it softly begin to sound centrist.
There’s always someone worse. That’s how the worst ideas survive.
During a July 31, 2021 WOL rally in Brooklyn, after fireworks were lit, Kiswani told [01:02:43] the crowd: “I hope that a pop-pop is the last noise that some Zionists hear in their lifetime!”
The Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023 — a day when thousands of Gazans crossed the border to slaughter Israeli civilians, rape women, burn children alive, and drag 250 people into captivity — is a date that should be remembered with grief and solemnity.
Yet in New York City, extremist groups such as Within Our Lifetime, Students for Justice in Palestine and Samidoun plan rallies on that anniversary to glorify the killers and call for an end to “Zionism” in what they call the “belly of the beast,” meaning America itself.
The “rally” was called a “Flood”, echoing Hamas’s term for the October 7 massacre, the “Al Aqsa Flood.” It includes a map of all of Israel claiming Israel’s 77 years of existence has been a “genocide” against Palestinians. It writes Israel with a lower case ‘i” meant as an insult to not recognize it, preferring to call it a “Zionist project.” The rally is a call to stand against “Zionism” and “honor the martyrs” who slaughtered people in Israel two years ago.
We make a clear and urgent appeal to governments and peoples committed to the liberation of the Palestinian people to adopt unequivocal and militant support for the cause of decolonisation. – Samidoun, October 2, 2025
This is not policy debate. It is a celebration of barbarity and a call to dismantle the Jewish homeland and undermine the United States. The chants and slogans echo the hate that fueled the October 7 pogrom.
Free Speech vs. Incitement to Violence
The United States protects free expression, even ugly and unpopular opinions. But it does not protect incitement to violence or material support for terrorist organizations. When demonstrations cross the line into praising terrorist acts or calling for attacks on Jews or Americans, the full weight of the law — from local police to federal agencies — must be ready to respond.
This year the anniversary falls during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, a holiday marked by public celebrations, outdoor meals, and large gatherings near synagogues and community centers. Those festivities will unfold in the shadow of these extremist rallies. That reality makes it all the more important for law-enforcement agencies to be highly visible and vigilant in keeping worshippers safe.
Standing Up for the Rule of Law
Calling to “globalize the Intifada” and praise the depraved Hamas “martyrs” feeds the chaos that violent extremists crave. What is needed is lawful, decisive enforcement:
Robust policing to protect Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues, sukkot gatherings, and counter-protesters.
Monitoring and prosecution of anyone who crosses into incitement or provides support to terrorist organizations.
Clear public messaging that celebrating mass murder is not political expression but moral depravity.
Bringing ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) agents to arrest and deport non- citizens engaging in harassment and intimidation.
People can be denied a visa if they intimidate, harass or are considered security risks. These October 7 rallies will likely be causes for revoking visas.
A Moment of Moral Clarity
October 7 should be remembered as a day of horror, not a banner for hate. Those who glorify the massacre expose themselves as the heirs of past totalitarian movements — whether Nazi or jihadist — that brought suffering not only to Jews but to all who cherish freedom.
“Terrorism” is a colonial term that we refuse to accept in reference to the heroic Resistance. – Samidoun, October 2, 2025
The response to them must be unflinching: protect the vulnerable, prosecute the lawbreakers, and reaffirm that the United States will never be a haven for the celebration of terrorism.
Video on Samidoun before rallies on October 7, 2024
Jews have enemies, and they are public and proud about gunning for Jews. Some are deranged individuals but others are members of organized groups like American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) with thousands of supporters and growing power.
HAMAS
Hamas is the ruling authority of Gaza and a political party which controls 58% of the seats of the Palestinian parliament. They are considered a terrorist group by much of the West, and just a political party by the United Nations.
Hamas’s stated goal is the eradication of the Jewish State of Israel. It has a religious calling, infused with a radical jihadi philosophy.
Hamas’s 1988 Foundation Charter is the most antisemitic political document in history, a sick combination of Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the Russian forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It’s goal of killing Jews with global support is found throughout the charter:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” (Opening)
“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.” (Preamble)
“raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors, so that they would rid the land and the people of their uncleanliness, vileness and evils.” (Article 3)
“raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” (Article 6)
“Moslems fight the Jews(killing the Jews)… there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him” (Article 7)
“Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land” (Article 12)
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time” (Article 13)
“In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised…. the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis.” (Article 15)
Zionist “organizations, hostile to humanity and Islam, will be obliterated.” (Article 17)
“In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or children… [Jews] attack people where their breadwinning is concerned, extorting their money” (Article 20)
“With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein…. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.” (Article 22)
“The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion… using all evil and contemptible ways… infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations… aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion…. Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people.” (Article 28)
“the ferocity of the Zionist offensive and the Zionist influence in many countries exercised through financial and media control.” (Article 30)
“Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam… It is the duty of the followers of other religions to stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region… The Zionist Nazi activities against our people will not last for long.” (Article 31)
“The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.… here is no way out except by concentrating all powers and energies to face this Nazi, vicious Tatar invasion. The alternative is loss of one’s country, the dispersion ofcitizens, the spread of vice on earth and the destruction of religious values… fight with the warmongering Jews.” (Article 32)
“everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty while loudly proclaiming: Hail to Jihad. Their cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished” (Article 33)
“Moslems were able to retrieve the land only when they stood under the wing of their religious banner… This is the only way to liberate Palestine… Nothing can overcome iron except iron.… confront the Zionist invasion and defeat it… rid themselves of the effects of ideological invasion.” (Article 34)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
CAIR should in theory, be a non-violent or toxic organization that advocates for Muslims in the United States. Alas, it is headed by antisemites who wish to attack Jewish institutions and run them out of the public square, as well as to destroy the only Jewish State.
The head of CAIR, Nihad Awad, defended the October 7 savage butchering of Israeli civilians. He has long said that “Zionist organizations” are “enemies of the Muslim community” and that “Zionist organizations make up the core of the Islamophobia network in the United States.”
CAIR-San Francisco Bay Area Executive Director Zahra Billoo, addressing an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) conference, made clear that all Zionists are enemies. “Know your enemies, and I’m not going to sugar-coat that. They are your enemies. There are organizations and infrastructure out there who are working to harm you. Make no mistake of it. They would sell you down the line if they could, and they very often do behind your back. I mean the Zionist organizations, I mean the foreign policy organizations that say they’re not Zionists but want a two-state solution. I’m not a Palestinian myself but it’s my understanding that that is laughable. So know your enemies.” Billoo listed some of them: “We need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League. We need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation. We need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues. We need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses. Because just because they’re your friend today, doesn’t mean that they have your back when it comes to human rights. So oppose the vehement fascists but oppose the polite Zionists too. They are not your friends.“
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
The far-left DSA has long been against Israel and its “platform proudly states continued support for and involvement with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and efforts to eliminate U.S. military aid to Israel, while resisting the “normalization” of relationships between the Israeli government and other governments.”
The DSA chapter in New York City asked candidates to pledge to not even visit Israel and see firsthand what is happening, and blindly follow Palestinian propaganda. The questionnaire asked “Do you pledge not to travel to Israel if elected to City Council in solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation?”
The organization went further and stated that EVERY Israeli Jew is fair game for violence in a June 2023 tweet that said “in a settler colonial context there are no such things as “civilians”, but disregarding that even, it’s total folly to honestly compare settlers perpetuating pogroms to resistance groups deploying violence to liberate themselves.” Note that the Palestinian narrative considers all of Israel to be a settlement, and thereby calls the presence of any Jew to be a member of the military and fair target for violence. Rep. Ritchie Torres was apoplectic and rebuked the DSA for “declaring them [Jews] fair game for violence and terror.“
Within Our Lifetime (WOL)
Within Our Lifetime is a group that creates loud rallies calling for the destruction of Israel and calling to confront every group that supports Israel everywhere, including the United States. They insist that every Jew must be routed from “Palestine,” “We don’t want no two states. We want all of it!”
In their call to “Globalize the Intifada” they have a map of “Zionist organizations” in New York City (4:30) with a call for people to visit each of the locations.
In the immediate aftermath of October 7, the group chanted support for the killing of Jewish civilians in New York City’s Times Square in what they hoped was a war to destroy the “Zionist entity.”
SJP, within Our Lifetime and Palestine Youth Movement celebrate the killing of 1,200 Israelis in the immediate aftermath of the massacre
SJP is a hate group with about 300 groups on college campuses around the United States. It believes that every Israeli Jew and Zionist is an enemy to be confronted “by any means necessary,” which means burning families alive, as Gazans did on October 7.
In the aftermath of the Gazan barabrity, SJP said this is a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance,” and “This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors.
Israeli Jews have other enemies, such as the Palestinian Authority. The PA is headed by a Holocaust denier who has demanded a country devoid of any Jews. Palestinian Arabs are the most antisemitic group by far, with 93% holding antisemitic beliefs according to the ADL.
But these days, one has to put the garden-variety Jew-haters on the back-burner and focus on the antisemites who want to do Jews harm and have the means to do so. Those with weapons like Hamas must be fought with weaponry. Those with political clout like CAIR and the DSA must be fought politically. And those inciting violence like WOL and SJP must be fought legally.
Jihadis and the alt-left declared Zionists as sworn enemies and to be confronted “by any means necessary.” On October 7, the world learned what that means. How will Jews, Zionists, their supporters and governments protect them?
First One Through 